Impact of Autism on Parents/Caregivers Quality of Life in Tabuk

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To investigate the impact of Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) on the quality of life (QOL) of parents of the affected child and identify predictors of deteriorating QOL. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at the Autistic Center, Ministry of Health, Tabuk city included a sample of parents or caregivers of autistic children (aged ≤ 14 years) throughout the study period (August-November, 2019). A self-administered questionnaire was used consisted of socio-demographic variables of the parent/caregiver, autistic child`s data and the different items of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Results: The study included 100 parents/caregivers. The age of more than half of them (54%) ranged between 31 and 40 years. More than half (58%) were females. The second level of autism was observed among 47% of the affected children while levels one and three were observed among 40% and 13% of them, respectively. Concerning the different domains of QOL, 11%, 21%, 8% and 15% of the parents/caregivers had poor physical, psychological, social and environmental domains of QOL. Overall, 7% of parents/caregivers had poor QOL. Parents/caregivers aged between 31-40 years, unmarried, low income, whose autistic children aged 3 years, had duration of the disease of 3 years were more likely to have poor overall QOL compared to their counterparts. Conclusion: Overall quality of life of parents/caregivers of autistic children in Tabuk was good. The most affected domains were the psychological and environmental domains. The majority of them have self-perceived their quality of life as neutral and were satisfied with their general health.